Office space take-up in Hyderabad in 2Q17 was almost double the number seen in 2Q16. At ~1.9 million sq ft, Hyderabad saw 98 per cent of 2Q16’s absorption this quarter. At ~1.7 million sq ft, Bengaluru also inched marginally ahead of the 2Q16 figure. Pune, which has been facing a supply crunch of quality office space, saw the net absorption in 2Q17 decline by 37 per cent year-on-year (YoY).

Bengaluru and Hyderabad together recorded over 50 per cent of total pan-India IT space take-up.
IT, ITeS occupiers have taken a big leap in office lease transactions in the last 15 years. Office space demand from them increased from 1.4 million sq ft in 2001 to 15.2 million sq ft in 2015.

Chennai city’s grade A office stock grew phenomenally from just 3.6 million sq ft in 2003 to 51.2 million sq ft in 2013. The city’s office stock development is primarily driven by IT/ITeS sector – a sector whose phenomenal growth has attracted pan-India developers such as DLF, Shapoorji (SP), Tata realty, Divyasree, Prestige and International players such as Ascendas to launch projects in Chennai.

In a landmark move that will have wide-ranging implications for commercial real estate in India, the government has done away with the mandatory requirement of 10 hectares of minimum land area for setting up an IT/ITES SEZ. With immediate effect, the minimum built-up area requirements to be met by SEZ developers will be 1,00,000 square metres for the seven major cities, 50,000 square meters for Category B cities and only 25,000 square meters for the remaining cities.